Harry Potter and The Secret Monster
by watch nimbus.171
Summary: This story starts in the year 2009, when Harry potter meets a girl who has accidentally touched a portkey and landed in Godric's Hollow. Harry decides to help her but in the meantime they both come to know heartbreaking secrets of her past.what are those? How is harry involved in all of these? By helping an unknown girl, will harry be inviting troubles for his dream like life?


Chapter 1

Godric's Hollows Guest

There was pleasant autumnal warmth in the air that evening in Godric's Hollow. Leaves were saying their final good byes to the trees and landing slowly like butterflies. The wind was blowing calmly and children were happily running and playing. People were coming and going from the small square which was at the center of the village. The sun was slowly going down leaving gold and red behind and the birds were flying back to their nests. Bells in the church were ringing as the evening prayer started. It was just as normal evening as it could be.

After a few minutes a very old lady, around 80 or perhaps more, was moving slowly and carefully, appeared at the gate of the church. She had a stick in hand for support. She was wearing a brown and yellowish white shabby looking gown which fell below her knees. She was wearing two different socks and her shoes looked as if they have not been polished for months. Her spine was slightly bowed down because of age and her hairs were all white. However, despite everything else her eyes, even though surrounded by her wrinkled skin, were happy. She was humming and beaming at the children playing.

She crossed the square slowly and began to walk in the opposite direction of the graveyard behind the church which was a rather darker road as compared to the other three roads going away from the square. In day time, the large fields can easily be seen acknowledging the village's end.

After crossing a few cottages she seemed to realize that she had gone the wrong way. Frowning, she turned back slowly and began to walk. It was only one or two steps when she heard a loud scream and thump as if someone had fallen down from height. It was a women's voice. The old lady looked around for the source of scream but couldn't see properly so she walked a few steps towards the direction of the noise.

"Whose there? Are you okay? What happened?" she called in a deep voice but a rather funny accent. No one answered. The old lady waited for a moment and asked, a little louder, again"Hello? I can't see anything properly. Are you alright?"

Another few moments of silence and then a torch light shone, piercing the silent darkness of the alley. The old lady shuffled her legs and narrowed her eyes to see properly, waiting for response and then, in a shaking voice, as if spoken with huge effort, she replied

" y-yes, I-I am h-here, to your r-right." she had a hoarse, breaking voice. The old lady came forward to her right till she saw a figure of the girl sitting on the ground. She couldn't see her face properly but she was certainly panting.

"Oh, I thought you had been knocked out. Who are you and what happened to you dear? "She said warmly. The girl was staring wide eyed around her, wildly, perhaps trying to figure out where she was.

"I got lost. I don't know where I am." She replied more to herself and grimaced as she stood up. She had bruises on her palms and her knees were bleeding because she fell on the hard ground.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine. You're in the Godric's Hollow, by the way" said the old lady simply.

"Where?"

"In Godric's Hollow, of course. What's your name? "

"Um…. I' m Meera, Meera Sharma."

"Okay, Meera, call me Sheila. Where are you from?"

"I-uh-I …" Meera stammered.

" You can trust me. What harm could possibly be done by an old woman like me" said the old one.

"No, I was just….I'm from Amarkantak."

"Where?"

"Amarkantak" said Meera eyeing the creepy dark broken house on her left. It was at the very end of the road and the tree and bushes were looked spooky in darkness of night and there was no moon in the sky to comfort things. Meera thought as if she was in a horror movie.

The old woman looked as baffled as Meera was when she heard Godric's Hallow for the first time. She thought for a moment and "Come with me" she said finally "we'll figure something out; and can't say no, because you don't have any other option here, have you?" and without waiting for reply she started walking.

"Err….. What?... n-no, I - "Meera looked taken aback but then she decided to come along and said" wait! I dropped my bag. Let me get it" she said importantly, walking with the old lady.

"Okay, go get it" said the old lady "I'm an old woman it should be easy for you to catch up"

Meera ran towards the place where she'd appeared and spotted a small brown rectangular bag lying on the ground and near to it was a small broken mirror. It had a small, circular, and old wooden frame with beautifully carved designs on it. She picked up the bag and threw its belt around her neck and lean forward to pick up the mirror. Just then she noticed that it was lying just at front gate of the eerie looking broken house.

Meera felt a thrill of fear and excitement together. Meera thought it was interesting and dangerous but decided to ignore the urge to peer inside and picked up the mirror, still looking towards the broken first floor of the house. Suddenly, the mirror fell from her hand and inside the gate and in the rush to catch it, the torch fell from her hand and turned off, creating the same scary darkness again.

"Ah….. Urgh!" She looked around irritably and frowning she opened her bag and pulled out her phone and tried to find the torch or the mirror but it wasn't working either. She bent down began to search random moving her hands. The torch lay a meter away from where she was standing. She picked it up quickly and clicked it on.

The torch light fell on the old untouched gate which was covered with rust and dirt. Most of the house was covered with the debris out of which waist high grass had grown wildly here and there. Meera was sure that it must be the home of snakes and small insects. She wondered why no one ever rebuilt it and lived there. She sat on her knees, torch in one hand,and the other stretched out inside and picked the mirror up. Careful not to drop it again, she placed it inside her bag, getting up.

As she stood back on her feet hurrying, trying to not lose the old lady helping her, she heard something shifting fast. Alarmed, she turned her torch toward the source of noise and saw that a sort of board was growing.

Meera quickly understood the fact that it was magic. There was something written on it with golden ink. She read it.

"On this spot, on the night of 31 October 1981,

Lily and James Potter lost their lives.

Their son, Harry, remains the only wizard

ever to have survived the Killing Curse.

This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left

in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters

and as a reminder of the violence

that tore apart their family."

She stared as she finished reading it. "The killing curse" she mumbled. There were wishes and blessings for Harry potter, whoever he was, written in many different colors and hand writings. Meera felt sympathy for him. Although, she didn't knew this person but she knew the feeling of not having parents. She often felt miserable without anyone significant in her life to call family, except for her grandmother who'd not care for a second where Meera was now!

She jerked herself from the thoughts and ran back towards the square. The old woman was walking slowly on the street on her left and Meera didn't need much effort to catch her back.

"What took you long? I thought you have decided not to come" said Sheila.

"Err, sorry "said Meera careful not to tell her anything about what she just saw and how she arrived here in the first place.

" How much further? "

"Too impatient, you are! Don't worry. Just there" Meera felt extremely exposed as if everything around her has eyes and they're watching her. She wanted to go somewhere safe as soon as possible.

"Sheila, I still don't understand where I am. Please tell me properly so that I can go back...home" She was eyeing the cottages on either side of road. They were entirely different from where she lives. She was certain that she was somewhere far from home, but where, she didn't know or didn't want to admit. She was praying not to be too far from home.

Her face was now clearly visible in the street light. Her shiny black almond-shaped eyes, medium length black hair and high cheekbones covered with brown and rough skin and her cloths were all the indicative of her Asian origin.

"There's nothing difficult in understanding a village's name, girl, its Godric's Hollow, in West Country, England" said the old lady irritably. "Now, if you don't mind I want to go inside?" Said the old lady and stopped suddenly, turned to her right and searching for a key in front pocket of her gown as she made her way towards the front door.

Meera stood rooted to the spot, horrified. She'd thought she was far from home but at least the very inside her country, a known place with similar people around but, this was beyond what she'd thought. She was in an entire foreign land with only a small bag in which she had a few necessities!

" E-England?" she mumbled "NO! Wait!" she said loudly so that the old lady could hear her and almost running to reach her.

"Did you say England?" she asked mouth dried and panicking.

"Yes. I said England." Sheila replied calmly walking inside the cottage.

Meera felt a horrible jolt in her stomach. Her heart was jumping beneath her ribs which felt as if it was twisting and turning to come out. She felt extremely unsecure and alone, as if she was the only person of her kind in the whole planet. She'd never been more than 1000 miles from her home, let alone going to a complete foreign place. She felt her eyes burning but she blinked and it settled. It wasn't the time for crying.

"Don't you want to come in?"Meera jumped as Sheila called. She felt really concerned about her security.

Although, she liked the way Sheila offered help but now she has to ask her why. Maybe she wants something in return, money probably and Meera didn't have much of that too. She has to ask what she is expecting in return.

"Sheila, why are you helping me?" Meera inquired coming inside and closing the door behind. She didn't mean to be rude and suspicious but the tension already rising in her head and she didn't care much about manners. However, Sheila who was sitting on a sofa looked up, surprised and amused by this "Maybe because I don't have any else to do "she said chuckling. "Not that you don't need it, hmm?" She paused for any reply from Meera then " Where is this Abertok, anyway?"

"What?"

"You know; your place. I don't remember hearing a town like this"

"Amarkantak, it's in India" Meera said sadly. Saying it out loud made it feel more away than in her thoughts.

Sheila stared.

Puzzlement, concern, sympathy, and pity came one by one on her face then smiled and said "oh dear! Don't be afraid. I know you're lost and scared but you'll find your way. Don't worry and you can trust me about why I helped you because I've nothing to lie about anyway. Besides, you can give this old woman company until you find your way back. Now, if you need anything, you have to help yourself. "

"Uh…okay" said Meera looking around. Meera wasn't doubting Sheila but she had to be confirm about what Sheila wanted from her and She was grateful the way Sheila had understood her problem so easily without even telling. She felt better after this but it didn't make her less concerned about finding way back home.

She thought how different Sheila was from her grandmother. She'd never heard anycomforting words or received a hug or anything to show affection or love. Rather than showing love as only person alive related to her what she did to Meera, was horrible!

"Hey! Don't think too much about me" Sheila interrupted her thoughts, waving her hand in front of her face, making Meera aware that she was staring at her. She dropped her eyes and looked away, feeling embarrassed. Sheila, however, laughed at it and started removing her socks.

"I can't sleep wearing socks. It makes me uncomfortable" she explained and continued telling her about her other habits. Meera was half listening and half tensed.

The house looked like it was almost empty because there were only a few things in the hall, a sofa, a table with a drawer under it , a single bed and one wardrobe with glass door. Rest of the part floor was covered in a thin layer of dust with many imprints of shoes all over it. The glass door wardrobe was ancient and had four partitions; two among them were filled with books and two with very dirty clothes. On left hand from entrance door, there was another smaller room which looked like kitchen because there were some plates and pots, a stove and a water barrel. Another door opened into bathroom.

"You live here alone?" said Meera running her finger on the table. It was covered with dust. Surely it hadn't been cleaned for days and neither the entire house.

"Ah...yes. Yes I do live here alone. I'm sorry. The old woman can't clean regularly. My son went to study about some old magic but the was-ouch!" she broke off, clutching her head tightly with her hands "Ahh! Uh...aaah!" she howled with pain. Alarmed, Meera dashed towards her.

"Oh my god! What's wrong? What's happening?" But just as Meera touched her shoulder, Sheila let her hands go into her lap as if they had no strength. She sighed and rested her back against sofa closing her eyes.

"Do you need water?" Meera asked looking concerned.

"Yes, thank you" said Sheila panting slowly "it's in the barrel in kitchen"

Meera went inside the kitchen and found the Barrel with a very little amount of water with so much dust at the bottom of it. Meera felt a rush of pity for the old lady. She opened her bag again and pulled out a water bottle and came in the hall with a glass. She gave a glass of water to old lady who gulped it in single breath and then let out a sigh of relief.

"More?" asked Meera.

"No, no. It's enough. You know, you should drink it too" and to Meera's surprise, she was smiling again.

"Er...yes but what happened to you suddenly?" Meera asked as she poured some water directly into her mouth.

Sheila chuckled "ah it's nothing. Just an old age issue. Not to worry about." She said brightly, then suddenly serious face "and listen, don't ask about my son, my family or about my past ever again. I don't like It. Okay?" She said darkly and slowly.

There was something in the way she said. It made Meera's stomach lurch but then suddenly her facial expressions changed to bright and happy. "Are you not hungry, dear? Bread? "She asked and looked at Meera making her eyes bigger in excitement.

"Er...yeah, Sure" Meera said awkwardly. Sheila pulled the drawer under the table, grabbed a packet of bread, jar of jam and a knife and started to prepare it. Meera watched her in confusion. Meera didn't ask her if she needed any help. She found Sheila's this behavior so strange.

When they finished eating, Sheila asked Meera to open the single bed and get extra blanket and pillow out. Meera made Sheila's bed and agreed without any problem to sleep on the sofa. Sheila promised that she'll help her find her way back to home the next morning and before sleeping she forced Meera to sit quietly while she applied some antiseptic creams on her bruises. Meera felt touched by this but still she thought that there's something wrong about Sheila's extra suddenly changing behavior but the caring and concern felt real. She decided not to sleep, just in case anything happens.

After tending bruises, Sheila went straight to bed, fell asleep in surprisingly short time and started to snore. Meera wasn't feeling sleepy at all. It was only 9pm and Meera had too much in her mind, especially Sheila.

_She said her son went to learn some old magic. What kind of magic and why did she say it so...so strangely that I mustn't ask aboutanything?!No, perhaps it hurts her so much to talk about her gone son. Poor old woman! She has to live in this dirt and more than that, alone in this age. Still she's so helpful and happy. But then, why'd she banned me to ask any question? It's not like I was going to write her biography! And she said magic! She must know about it. She might've thought I don't know anything about magical world. I have to do things fast because the ministry of here would know by now about an arrival by international portkey! They keep all the tracks and I have to ask about the way back but I can't be caught by ministry officials. They might think I'm...I've some evil intensions. After all, It's an issue of national security and then... Oh my god! What have I done? _

She sighed, frowning, and turned to her left but came back suddenly,grimacing. Her left arm had some bruises which were still hurting because she had hit the ground earlier. This was the worst day of her life. She shouldn't have touched the portkey on the first place and now she had landed in England! What if the muggle police here catch her? She didn't have a visa and what is she going to tell them how did she get here without it? How will she go back? She had no magic solution this time. She felt so helpless but she has to be strong; she has to Know what happened earlier. There are so many unexplainable things. She didn't remember anything properly of her life, except for this year, and nothing, all blank! She knew many things without knowing she does, like magic, although, she can't do it because she was a squib but knew a lot about it. Her grandmother told her a very convincing story for it and she has to know what the true story is. There have been many things proving that her grandmother has told her a huge lie! But, she has to wait until tomorrow anyway.

She sighed and closed her eyes and the broken house and its sign board came in her thoughts first . The only boy who survived the killing curse but his parents died. Seeing your own parents murdered and having to live all your life without them, bearing the pain every moment of your life, was really horrible. Meera felt so sympathetic towards this unknown boy, Harry Potter. He might have any siblings or other family members to live with but no one fills the place of parents. There were many well wishes for him. They'd surely be nice people to have received so many good wishes for their son. Parent's works affect a childs life too much but what kind of horribly cruel person would try and kill an entire family?! They may have some rivalry. The boy would surely have gone to avenge his parents. Forgiving is rare and in such cases who would expect the boy to be angel!

She opened her eyes again which felt a lot heavier this time and she became aware of her bruises which were tingling in her knees and palms. She felt so tired to get up and Sheila was still snoring loudly. Thinking she won't be able to resist further long, she decided to ignore both and closed her eyes again and soon fallen asleep.


End file.
